Choice of date, venue reveals Uhuru game plan for polls

Section 101 of the Constitution states that a general election of MPs “shall be held on the second Tuesday of August in every fifth year.” That puts Kenya’s next election date as August 8, 2017.

August 9, 2016 was the second Tuesday of August, 2016. It was also the day President Uhuru Kenyatta chose to unveil the Jubilee Party, of which he will be leader and presumed presidential candidate.

It could be a pure coincidence, but the President officially embarked on the journey for re-election to State House exactly one year to the election date — and at State House.

It is also likely that the choice of the day and venue was a deliberate decision. If it was, then it could only mean that the President was trying to signal that on this day next year, he hopes — or expects — to be back at State House to start his second and final term.

“We have travelled some distance in the transformative journey,” Mr Kenyatta said yesterday, again signalling that he has more miles to go and more promises to keep before handing over the baton. “A strong political movement is required to ensure stability and continuity.”

In a sense, Jubilee’s journey began on December 2, 2012, when Mr Kenyatta and Mr William Ruto announced they were forming an alliance ahead of the 2013 election.

At the time, Mr Kenyatta was the TNA presidential candidate while Mr Ruto was seeking the presidency on a URP ticket.

At a rally in Nakuru, the two exchanged their caps, which had their respective party colours. They called their new outfit the Jubilee Alliance — a symbolic gesture to show they were together. Both were also facing charges for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, meaning that they were “together” in more than just the political sense.

Around the same time, the now Amani National Congress leader, Mr Musalia Mudavadi, claimed he had coined the name Jubilee following an alliance with the two. However, he said, they abandoned him but kept the name Jubilee.

NEW JUBILEE PARTY SLOGAN

On Tuesday, Tuko Pamoja (we are together) became the new Jubilee Party’s slogan. Again, Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto were together, of course with officials from the 12 allied parties. This time round, however, they are not facing trial at the ICC.

Interestingly, in 2012 — it was actually on the night of April 17 — the then Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara said he had been forced by a gang of four to face Mt Kenya and chant “Uhuru tuko pamoja” three times. Mr Imanyara recounted his ordeal, which he said took place on State House Crescent, in Parliament.

On Tuesday at State House, officials from the 12 allied parties repeated the words “tuko pamoja” of their own volition — and in broad daylight — when they took turns to shake hands with the President.

An elated President Kenyatta said: “We are moving our family to our new spacious and happy home.”

Only time — and nominations — will tell if theirs will be a spacious and happy home.

Mr Mbugua is Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Nation